Years ago I watched a nature documentary about the Vogelkop Bowerbird, a species of forest-dwelling bird that lives in Western New Guinea, Indonesia. The males spend years working on their nests, which they build in a clearing on the forest floor and where they proudly display their collection of found buds, berries, flowers, fungi, and even iridescent beetles. They arrange these objects in very neat piles at the entrance of a moss-covered bower in the hopes of enticing a female with discriminating taste. The bowerbird’s habit of rummaging through the wilderness searching for treasures to create an assemblage reminded me of my own creative process. For this series of tables and trays, I imagined a fictitious studio visit by one of these remarkable animals, who would decorate his home with his prized finds from my studio shelves.⁠ ⁠ Bowerbird Tray, 2021. ⁠ ⁠ Photo credit: @markhanauer